Songs revealed for Cypriot selections

Posted 14 December 2009 at 20:20

Cypriot broadcaster CyBC has announced the ten songs competing in the race for the country’s spot in the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest. One of the songwriters in the list is Constantinos Christoforou, who has previously represented Cyprus three times: in 1996 and 2005 as a solo artist and in 2002 as a member of the group One. Christoforou’s new effort goes by the title of Angel.
Another notable name for viewers of Europe’s favourite TV show is Mike Connaris, the composer of Stronger Every Minute. Performed by Lisa Andreas, the song achieved 5th place in the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest, a feat no entry from Cyprus has been able to match since. For 2010, Connaris is competing with the song Like A Woman.

The final ten

The artists of the entries in Cyprus are still to be revealed. The full list of competing songs includes the following:

Cypriot songwriters only

The revealed selection was made from a total of seventy-five entries, submitted in response to an open call for songs. The final ten entries were elected by a seven-member jury appointed by CyBC. The work of the jury was supervised by KPMG, an independent firm of accountants.
The rules stated that only songwriters who have Cypriot origin or who have resided in the island for at least two years could take part. The writers of the elected ten songs now have until the 15th of January 2010 to send in the final version of their song.
The national final of Cyprus is held on the 7th of February. The winner will be selected by a shared vote between the viewers and a five-member professional jury, in which both have a 50% stake.

Goes for English

This year, Christina Metaxa took the job for Cyprus with Firefly, a song written by her brother Nikolas. She did not qualify for the Final in Moscow, as she finished fourteenth in the second Semi-Final.
The revealed list of songs for 2010 implies that the Cypriot entry for 2010 will again be performed in English, as all the song-titles presented make use of the language. Cyprus last had an entry in Greek in the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest, with Evdokia Kadi singing Femme Fatale.